Nam Phan Was Scared Before Cole Miller Bout, But Still Won

Coming off his second victory in the UFC, Phan joined the Sherdog
Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show to discuss why he was scared
before the fight, his training with Team Alpha Male and his dislike
for Steven Seagal.

On whether he is worried before his fights: “I’m not
worried. I’m pretty scared. I’m pretty startled and frightened
because you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s unknown. These
guys are professional fighters. They’re not a bunch of street
thugs. These guys know what they’re doing. ... It’s pretty scary,
especially with this fight. Cole, when he walks into the ring, it’s
very intimidating. He was punching himself in the face. He had a
really pissed off look on him. He was grunting. Plus he’s like
6-foot-3. Like wow, he’s gigantic. Like wow, this guy’s scary. I’m
pretty scared. Him grunting like an animal’s not helping
either.”

On what he thought when he heard Bruce Buffer announce that the
fight was a split decision: “Oh God. I was terrified. Not
again. Please, please not again, no, come on. I mean no, I really
didn’t think it was that close. Somebody was like, ‘It was a close
fight.’ I was like, ‘No. How could it be a close fight? I was
cracking him.’ I don’t take anything away from Cole Miller. Cole
Miller’s a tough guy, a great dude, but I thought I beat him. I
thought I beat him all three rounds. Even the second round, people
were saying, ‘Oh man, Nam lost the second round.’ I watched it
again. Dude, I was cracking him in the second round, too.”

On why he trained with Team Alpha Male for this fight: “I
figured if I wanted to keep my job in the UFC, I’ve got to turn it
up a little bit.”

On whether he’ll continue to train with Alpha Male: “Yeah, I
think so. The thing is ... everyone at Alpha Male is my size. I
think around my weight at least, and they’re either my height or
taller or shorter, but everyone’s primarily around 160 to 140. It’s
perfect.”

On whether he thinks Steven Seagal really helps Anderson
Silva train for his fights: “I don’t think so. But this guy
-- you know what? I really don’t think so. I actually think he has
nothing to do with Lyoto [Machida] or Anderson Silva’s training
whatsoever, but he wants to play it off like he does. He wants to
play it off like he’s the success behind [them], like he’s the
reason why they’re all successful. If he was joking around, like,
‘Aikido’s front kick.’ Aikido’s front kick is the same thing as a
judo chop. It doesn’t exist. It’s funny, but he’s serious, and
that’s what pissed me off. He tries to trick people.”

On what would happen if he met Seagal in person: “What could
I possibly do? I can’t really do anything. I’m going to beat up a
60-year-old man? I’m not a juvenile delinquent. I’m not going to
call him out and start a fight with him either.”

On whether he’d shake Seagal’s hand and speak to him: “No.
No, I don’t want to talk to him. Screw that. If he wants to talk to
me, if he wants to come over and confront me about, ‘Hey, Nam, why
you talking smack?’ then we’re going to have a conversation.”

On whether a feud with Seagal could be beneficial if it
continues to generate attention: “If it does, it does. If it
doesn’t, it doesn’t. I mean, you guys and the reporters just ask me
questions and I give you my opinion. That’s it. If it gets me more
attention, it gets me more attention, but I’m not in it for
attention.”